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Hot Topics

Every month since 1997, Susan J. Ellis, president of Energize, Inc., writes a "Hot Topic" essay on an issue or trend in the volunteer world that is percolating at that point in time, inviting comments and debate from site visitors. This is a full archive of all her Hot Topics, many of which remain relevant today -- and it's never too late to join in the discussion by responding at the bottom of each Hot Topic's page!

2015

We are responsible for the effective engagement of volunteers but most often do not have control over what happens once volunteers are placed into roles supervised by others. So leaders of volunteers are accountable, but with limited power. Susan asks: When do you have the authority to act if you feel something needs to be done differently? What are your options?

We say that our goal is teamwork among volunteers and paid staff, but just as the game is about to start, we withhold some of the things volunteers need to help the team to victory. Do you give volunteers access to the same resources employees take for granted?

Volunteers are commonly recruited into "friendship" roles to meet one-to-one with a client regularly over time. But do the volunteer, the client, and the agency all see this match in the same way? What happens when the volunteer acts like a friend instead of doing what a paid "service provider" might do?

Some issues recur over and over, posing the question, “Why are so many executives clueless about volunteer involvement?” Susan shares three new examples of this problem and identifies their insidious common denominators.

Too many associations of volunteer resources managers are completely invisible on the Web – effectively dead because they cannot be found through even a careful search. An effective Web presence is key to building new membership.

Do you think that volunteers (of any kind) would be interested in an online forum community, based on their shared identity as volunteers? Dan Berman, founder of VolunteerTalk.org, and Susan debate this question and invite you to weigh in – and to visit his beta site.

Innovative volunteer roles or volunteer management techniques sound wonderful when presented. Let's do a reality check on how many of these new ideas are tried and assimilated into daily agency operations?

The current emphasis of funders on “innovating” or “reimagining” programs implies some assumptions that deserve to be questioned. Is something new always something better? Where do volunteers fit into this all?

November 5th is IVMDay. Most professions do not expect or need a special day of recognition - why do we? Because it's an opportunity to get others to pay attention to what it takes to coordinate volunteers effectively.

Most of us support the observation that volunteering builds resumes, provides career exploration, and demonstrates each volunteer's abilities, but can we make the case - as several recent research studies try to do - that volunteering directly affects employability?

In 1980 and 1990, Energize produced a mini-poster with the dramatic title of "The Seven Deadly Sins of Directing Volunteers." Susan considers whether the "sins" have changed now in 2013 - and asks for your help in generating a list for today.

Everyone is buzzing about social media, hoping to "go viral" and grab the attention of prospective new volunteers. But the medium is not the message. Susan examines how the basic principles of volunteer recruitment still apply in our electronic age.

A new bookintroduces the concept of knowledge philanthropists: time donors "who volunteer primarily with their head, by contributing what theyknow." Organizations can vastly increase their capacity by engaging volunteers with any and all professional skills.

"How many volunteer hours are too much?" Are there any legitimate reasons to limit the time volunteers may give or is it a self-defeating practice? Would you cap a financial donation? Sort out the layers of complexity in this issue.

2012

Are volunteers acknowledged in meaningful ways in your organization's annual reports and other public documents? Use the holiday season to celebrate the gifts volunteers provide all year long and educate everyone with surprising and valuable information.

An indescribable hurricane and a fierce presidential election in the same week! These two very different situations are both eliciting an outpouring of volunteer time and effort. Susan analyzes the implications for calmer times from the perspective of volunteer leadership.

"Why" is a three-letter word that can pack more punch than most four-letter words! Leaders of volunteers tend to avoid confrontation, but posing a sensible question - which anyone can do - is a means of taking action in a different way. Learn the power of "why?"

Nonprofits are governed by boards of directors comprised mainly of volunteers and, as the Penn State scandal proves, they are not always effective. Why are volunteer resource managers so rarely asked to help the board to function?

It seems that many corporations and national organizations want to "wear" volunteerism...for only a moment. Vague new initiatives launch with glitz, but ultimately have very little impact on any of the important community work that needs to be done.

It's common to use a "volunteer satisfaction survey" as ostensible evidence that things are going well. Do such surveys reveal anything meaningful about the value of volunteer contributions? What might tell us more?

Guest commentator Rob Jackson draws three critical points from recent social media data that have direct relevance to leaders of volunteers - and gives tips for responding. Are you keeping up with how fast things are changing?

Energize gets asked a lot of questions about volunteers that would never be posed in relation to paid staff. Susan shares some examples of illogic, overreaction, and unthinking policies that hinder volunteer success.

Energize is celebrating its 35th birthday! What has changed since 1977 in how we do business, and also in the volunteer world? On the surface, a lot. But maybe the more things change, the more they stay the same.

In the U.S., presidential candidates with widely differing views each attract thousands of volunteers. We see election volunteering as a political act but any type of volunteering is inherently "political." What does this mean for your organization?

What would your organization look like if it practiced everything we preach about creative, welcoming, and effective volunteer management? We have to picture the results of our efforts to be motivated to do the work necessary.

2011

United Nations Volunteers is set to issue its State of the World's Volunteering Report. In this spirit of celebration and reflection, Susan looks back at all that has happened professionally in our field - things we have done or were done to us - and asks for your retrospectives, too.

The majority of people who lead volunteer involvement do so only part-time, showing a serious disconnect between an organization's desire to engage volunteers and an understanding of how much expertise and time are needed to ensure success.

Some truly wonderful and provocative blogs have emerged recently. Here are some by authors who are willing - in fact, determined - to address philosophy, ethics, and the "big questions" facing the volunteer field.

Inexplicably, the subject of volunteer involvement is still far from a priority in most organizations. Susan highlights succinct key points to use as "sound bites" or "elevator speeches" in advocacy for our work. Share yours.

Many want a universally-accepted credential to "professionalize" volunteer management. The problem is that we are in danger of settling for a one-size-fits-all accreditation that is too narrow in scope and much too low-level in status.

In the face of serious budget cuts facing the U.S. Corporation for National and Community Service, guest contributor Paula Beugen wonders if the Corporation needs a serious makeover no matter the budget.

We live in a world of short attention spans. How can we reconcile the long-term demands of most causes with the "what's-new-today?" push? How do we continue to recruit the volunteers we need for the long haul?

Around the world, too many professional associations of volunteer resource managers are struggling. Whether we work globally or locally, virtually or face-to-face, we will make progress only if we perceive associating as power.

2010

The UN's IYV+10 has raised the perpetual question of "What exactly is - or is not -volunteering?" How someone defines the core word of our field often has strong impact on some critical, practical matters.

If everything in the world is changing, volunteering cannot stay the same. But some volunteers prefer the status quo. Susan looks at the causes of resistance and suggests ways to introduce change that volunteers will own.

Just because a corporation dangles money in front of us, do we have to jump? Glitzy media campaigns misdirect well-meaning volunteers and only add more work for agencies, diverting effort from what's genuinely important.

Volunteer groups are increasingly being detoured by demands to carry liability insurance. Is this just another way of saying "no" to volunteer initiative? The real question is: "What is the risk of not doing something?"

Learn about a new (maybe) type of service: the self-directed volunteer. Is it "organized neighborliness" or something really different? What's the role of social media in mobilizing self-directed volunteers?

"If it's worth doing, it's worth paying for it." "You couldn't pay someone to do this." How can we believe both that money equals worth and that money in some ways taints the receiver? How do such preconceptions affect us?

AmeriCorps (and also Senior Corps) members are now being deployed as volunteer coordinators in organizations that do not have staff to lead volunteer involvement. Susan examines the potential and concerns of this initiative.

2009

Can an organization turn to volunteers to fill gaps when budgets are cut and employees laid off? Economic crisis is a teachable moment, with the potential to educate everyone about smart, motivating engagement of volunteers.

We've just ended the Entertainment Industry Foundation's attempt to mention volunteering in all types of media. What's important is not which popular shows carried the volunteering message or even how well. What happened?

Are we missing the boat by not directing volunteers into work that is of greatest value to the users of our services right now. Isn't it important to ask volunteers to do whatever is of highest priority?

How can we integrate discussion of everyone's own volunteering into daily life in a natural, even "taken for granted" way? With the hoopla about single days of service, how do we shine a light on ongoing volunteering?

Staff can stop any creative idea involving volunteers by raising concern over confidentiality, risk, or other issue solemnly pronounced as protecting clients. And too often it works. We must stand our ground.

The global economic situation affects us all as private individuals and within community sectors. So, how will a recession affect volunteering? Susan offers some perspective;you share your hopes, fears, and predictions.

An event in New York City on September 11-12, 2008, called ServiceNation, invited both presidential candidates to speak. But Susan wonders if lumping all forms of "service" together confuses rather than helps debate and action.

There is endless talk about making sure volunteers do not displace paid staff. But what about the opposite issue? When and how is it legitimate to place employees into roles traditionally held by volunteers?

1.7 million Chinese have become Olympic volunteers, but the press coverage treats this not as quality volunteer management, but as suspect "government control." Pay attention to what is being said and draw your own conclusions.

The IRS has just acknowledged the soaring cost of gas by raising the tax deduction for mileage to 58.5 cents per mile - but the rate for driving by volunteers remains at 14 cents, as it has for 10 years.

The cost of gasoline is rising at a staggering rate. There hasn't been much public discussion yet about the potential of gasoline prices to disrupt critical volunteer services, but is there a silver lining for volunteering here?

Is your volunteer program appropriately funded? Have you requested something and been told "we don't have the money"? But that just means no money right now. Make the case for allocating more money to support volunteers.

Democratic presidential candidate Obama calls for tax credits for students who do "public service" to help nonprofits. When will it be recognized that volunteering is not simply something done in the nonprofit sector?

Susan makes the case that the key to increased impact – and to resolving the ever-present tension between employees and volunteers – is intentionally recruiting volunteers who are as unlike the paid work force as possible.

How do we feel (honestly) when we answer "I'm in volunteer management" when asked what we do? Do we dread watching people’s eyes glaze over? Here are some unexpected and powerful ways to explain our profession.

2007

The San Fransisco Bay oil tanker spill shows that we need to teach civil emergency response organizers that turning every potential volunteer away without assessing what s/he is offering to do is a mistake on many levels.

Not-for-profit boards of directors are taught to separate their main role in “governance” from the paid staff’s role in “management.” Is this still a viable delineation or is it time to re-think the status quo?

Recruiting volunteers to contribute their time and effort to your organization puts you in the middle of an implied promise. When new people agree to volunteer, they initially commit because they believe you. Should they?

We spend a lot of time debating what is “volunteering.” But what about situations where the word volunteer is almost never applied, yet the activity truly is unpaid service – and even costs people money?

Have you found it easier to recruit a volunteer to do frontline, hands-on work than to accept a leadership position on a board of directors, advisory council, or key committee? This universal concern is also seen in DOVIAs.

March 2007 brings Energize's 30th birthday! All the clichés about “where did the time go?” definitely spring to mind, as does Susan's thought: “Boy, I must have been very young to have had the audacity to start this adventure!”

There are new volunteer vacation or "voluntourism" projects springing up all over. Why? What's good and bad about the concept? How can volunteer resources managers tap into this trend to further our ongoing goals?

Is it important for volunteer resources managers to do some sort of volunteering themselves, practicing what we preach? Susan wonders if making time to volunteer is a professional development activity.

2006

What exactly is the connection between ourselves as leaders of volunteers and the volunteers we lead? How does our close relationship with volunteers affect both our professional practices and how we are viewed by others?

Why do advocates of "civic engagement" and "social entrepreneurship" think these are different from "volunteering"? Do we perpetuate the notion that volunteers are helpers, not innovators? Let's rethink how we recruit.

Middle managers can be an asset or an obstacle to effective volunteer engagement. Do they support it comfortably and well? Are they given any training – or even an introduction to – the principles of volunteer management?

There have been remarkably few elementary or high school curriculum materials to 1) educate teachers about volunteering, and 2) help them teach their students about the historical and current role of citizen involvement.

Despite a few official volunteer statistics, we really do not have many facts. If we want to encourage researchers to do serious data collection about our field, then we need to articulate some better questions to ask.

In part 2 of her response to the dissolution of AVA, Susan explains whyit’s important for a professional association to start with (and usually maintain) a single-nation focus rather than an international one.

The Association for Volunteer Administration (AVA) is no more. Susan muses on what we can learn from the demise of AVA to guide us in doing things better in the future and exhorts colleagues to take action.

Legal and financial counselors too often say "no" to what we want to do with volunteers. And they do not expect to be challenged. As advocates for volunteer engagement, we need to remember that we, too, have expertise to offer.

The new edition of By the People: A History of Americans as Volunteers is done. Understanding the roots and traditions of volunteering is key to the potential of the future. What can we learn from the past in any country?

2005

Whether it was tsunamis, hurricanes, or earthquakes, the demand for rescue and relief efforts in 2005 was unparalleled - with a ripple effect on volunteer recruitment and fundraising for “everyday,” local organization needs.

Do you have volunteers working with you? If VPMs become role models for how to design roles for volunteers and how to work with them successfully, we’d do more to bring dubious staff around than just talking the talk.

It is common to cast volunteering in a solemn, even spiritual light. But we do volunteers (and ourselves as leaders of volunteers) a disservice by focusing only on their halos and never the devilish twinkle in their eyes!

Sports team charity projects and new cause-related marketing service events reward participants with all sorts of perks, chances to win cars, and more. How might this affect our own success in recruiting volunteers?

Every volunteer program deals to some degree with seasonal leaves of absence, whether for summer or winter. If you’re located in a resort area, you may be even more affected. These are facts of life, so what can we do about it?

Does anyone actually like traditional volunteer recognition events? They can be stultifying: dull speeches, poor food, boring table talk. To add insult to injury, they can be expensive. More important, they miss the point.

Despite endless lip service to the subject, very few nonprofits or government agencies engage in substantive collaboration with other organizations. It’s too hard and it’s too threatening. Are volunteers the answer?

In recruitment, it's easy to repeat the same old messages to the same old places in the same old ways (with the same or diminishing results). Think like a marketing expert and generate excitement about your organization.

What is it about volunteering that causes such stereotypical and prejudiced thinking, despite decades of serious attempts by our field to alter the public’s perceptions? Why don't people see the best rather than the worst?

2004

There are some sterling examples of strong professional networks in our field, but they are sadly few and far between. Most are struggling. Why? Which came first: weak professional associations or a weak profession?

The concept of employers stimulating and supporting community service by their employees has been accepted by our field almost as gospel. But should we also have some concerns about how workplace volunteering is evolving?

Despite research showing that people who volunteer are more likely to also give cash than uninvolved people, the development office and the volunteer resources office continue to operate in distinctly separate spheres.

Volunteering is commonly - and erroneously - seen as synonymous with nonprofits. In fact, enormous numbers of volunteers are active in public agencies that are part of government at local, state, or national levels.

The intersection between government and volunteers made the news in all sorts of ways during April. What might the general public think about community service after reading or hearing these sorts of stories?

Politicians (everywhere in the world) make speeches about how valuable citizen involvement is, although ironically, much of what volunteers really get worked up about is what government is not doing for the public good!

The global Conference on Volunteering and Information and Communication Technologies acknowledged the role of volunteers in developing and maintaining the Web, and how they are working to close the "digital divide" from the poor.

2003

One of the most frustrating aspects of change in organizations is that too often newcomers initiate change simply out of preference without asking an important question first: Why and how did we end up where we are now?

The quest for “tell me what’s standard for all volunteers” emerges endlessly, but there are few universal answers. Start by examining the factors of your organization and determining what is best for you, not others.

What is it about our field that everyone thinks they know how to do or how to interpret it? Why would anyone assume that working with volunteers is simply a matter of instinct, common sense, and being nice?

Orienting and training volunteers are key elements of successful volunteer involvement. But if we focus only on training volunteers, we miss the opportunity to facilitate education for our entire organization.

The volunteer world has been given a gift – unexpected but extraordinary. The gift is the Internet. Some of us have eagerly ripped open the wrapping and have been playing (quite seriously) with all the possibilities of this present.

What are the issues when for-profit businesses offer money to nonprofits but also expect volunteers to do the work of the fundraising project? Where are the lines between exploitation and a win-win mutual exchange?

Recently there has been volunteering by characters on popular T.V. shows, usually presented badly. Susan would love to see volunteering handled like the “product placement” so important to commercial advertisers.

It is common for those in nonprofit settings to be critical of the social and environmental practices of business corporations. But do we ever assess our own degree of social responsibility and the global impact of our spending?

What are the roles of our field’s various professional societies and resource organizations, both in relation to each other and in terms of local, state/provincial, or national levels of operation? Susan examines the options.

Guest writer Rob Jackson comments on formal recognition of volunteers and the idea of a national medal to be awarded to all volunteers in Australia after a set number of years' service, regardless of the volunteer's role.

Why don'tthe national headquarters of major volunteer-involving organizations have volunteers working side-by-side with paid staff in running programs? What is the reason for this blind spot and lack of visible role modeling?

Susan reflects on how volunteer management requires a special world view within a culture so focused on economic gain. Read her version of "Everything I Needed to Know in Life, I Learned from Working with Volunteers."

After 27 years of true leadership in our field, the Minnesota Office of Citizenship and Volunteer Services has been summarily closed by Governor Jesse Ventura. How can this happen and what do the mixed messages mean?

2001 started with mixed reviews for the celebration of the International Year of Volunteers and ended with the efforts of volunteers responding to the terror of September 11th as a sign of undiminished community strength.

2001

Despite new studies of volunteering and giving, Susan points out how little we really know about what matters. To get useful information about the scope and impact of volunteering, we need to ask the right questions of the right sources.

It's been an overwhelming two weeks since the terrorist attacks in the US on the 11th of September. Energency response volunteers are seen as heroes. What can we in volunteer management do in such a crisis?

Agencies often tap volunteers to become employees. While this shows that volunteers are seen as a talent pool of equal merit to employees, the practice also raises some concerns and potential pitfalls.

Perhaps the most unique thing about working with volunteers is our perspective on cash. We don't need as much of it as other departments do. This financial freedom allows us a different approach to the subject of funding.

Energize is a for-profit company-serving a field in which financial "profit" is never the point, so some question our motives. Let's challenge thinking that draws lines in the sand between people who are "pure" and "impure."

We all would agree that "youth service" is important, but what does this term really mean? What's the definition of "youth" in differnet countries? Is there always a reason to segregate volunteers by age?

The phrase “streams of service” conveys the image of various forms of service, all starting from different sources, eventually combining into a mighty river. Or do we just have puddles? IYV provides a prism throught which to see our field.

2000

Ivan Scheier's new book is about dreams that die while others live and prosper. And he shares how we can be both a dreamer or a “Dream-Catcher”--a person who nurtures the dream-chaser towards accomplishing the dream.

Volunteers are often called "unskilled workers," but usually the speaker means “differently skilled” as compared to the credentials of the majority of the paid staff in that setting. We need to explain what volunteers bring to the workplace.

Energize proposes a project for the International Year of Volunteers that will generate excitement and result in meaningful activity, is do-able by any organization, and can be used as a recognition idea at any time.

Guest writer Linda Graff points out: "When an organization says let's do a cost-benefit analysis on volunteer involvement, it seems a reasonable thing to do...[but] we don't know how to measure the value of volunteering." Provocative and important reading.

In all the discussion of the impact of Internet technology on volunteer management, one very important opportunity is often overlooked: making use of your organization's own Web site to foster volunteering.

The point of this Hot Topic is not to trash banquets, but to question the fundamental rationale of what we are trying to do when we thank volunteers -- and suggest ways to make any recognition activity more worthwhile (even a banquet!).

Several major initiatives are promoting family volunteering or trying to integrate community service into every school grade. But do volunteer-involving agencies have the desire or skills to welcome children and teens as volunteers?

Susan cleans out her bottom desk drawer to find hundreds of old conference name badges...and recognizes an unaddressed hot topic! Let's be honest and open about these devilish plastic items. (No foolin'.)

As more formerly nonprofit services become for-profit businesses, the question of whether or not volunteers should continue to give unpaid time in such settings deserves attention. The answer is not always clear.

1999

Let’s use the start of the new century as an opportunity to to ask some genuinely hard questions about volunteer involvement in our organizations--what have we really accomplished and where do we want to go?

Here's a caution to all to examine the assumptions behind the “conclusions” reached by the new Independent Sector “Giving and Volunteering” in the U.S. study--or any other attempt to quantify volunteer activity.

The volunteer field's perspective was absent from the White House Conference on Philanthropy(guess they only meant money), as well as from discussions about “civic engagement,” “civil society,” and other community themes. Why?

Susan shares her list of major trends in the field right now. Do you see the same things, in the same way? Differently? And, even more important, what other issues do you see surfacing for the volunteer world--both good and bad?

It has long been impossible to get senior management to attend sessions about volunteerism designed for them. No matter that the invitation promises executive-level topics or includes an elegant breakfast, they don't "get" why they should come.

PricewaterhouseCoopers' "Performance Measurement Study of Americas Promises Commitments" is breathtaking in its arrogance, trumpeting out activity data as if doing something is equivalent to accomplishing something.

Guest writer Andy Fryar from Australia observes that effective time management is the key not only to successfully blend the needs of volunteers with those of the organization, but also to avoid burning out volunteer program managers.

A major reason employees are hesitant to accept high-skill volunteers is a lack of creativity in creating assignments for these volunteers to accomplish. Traditional approaches to volunteer work design almost inevitably lead to conflict.

What is the importance of volunteering by poor people, particularly those we consider “disenfranchised”? We in volunteer leadership have to refocus our energies on involving the people we “serve” as part of their own solution.

This Hot Topic is about money. Two big financial questions seem to surface all the time, so let's examine them: What should a director of volunteers be paid? Should volunteers be given money as an incentive?

Why is there such a prevelant self-fulfilling prophecy of expecting, and therefore tolerating, mediocre performance by volunteers? This is based on the bad assumption that, by definition, volunteers don’t measure up to paid staff.

1998

Why are so many academic research studies on some variation on the theme of what motivates people to volunteer? They reflect researcher inexperience with real-life volunteers and an inability to frame more complex questions deserving of study.

The Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. is, at its core, a story of gratitude for volunteering as well as for abundance. Why do we so often miss the mark with modern volunteer recognition? We need new ways to say thanks.

Guest writer Sarah Jane Rehnborg wonders if we sell ourselves short by not clarifying our language and by lumping all manners and forms of service within one broad and reasonably useless classification of "volunteer."

Susan admits to dissatisfaction at the repetitive format of professional conferences that have a "sameness" that is increasingly feeling dull. What other options are there for producing great learning events?

Leaders of volunteers around the globe are making conscious efforts to connect with one another and we need to foster such communication more actively. Looking ahead to the UN's International Year of Volunteers 2001, we can take advantage of this pending event to create exchanges among the leaders of volunteer efforts -- beyond IYV. [This Hot Topic remained active through August 1998 to permit more responses from global colleagues.]

States were mandated to create a a "Commission on Community Service" to administer federal funds and several merged their Commissions with previously-established State Offices on Volunteerism. Caution!

In the U.S. and in most other countries, there is an untapped pool of potential volunteers: foreign nationals (without work permits) living away from home for various reasons and with time to volunteer.

A year after the Presidents' Summit, Susan evaluates developments from the volunteerism perspective. Some local activities have been wonderful, but the promised mobilization to help youth has not yet materialized.

Susan proposes twelve professional New Year's resolutions. If once a month we each take some action on these small but vital things, the field of volunteerism will be strengthened over the next twelve months.

1997

The December holiday season brings countless charitable projects filled with the spirit of giving. But can't some of the annual holiday cheer be rechanneled or rescheduled to have a much greater effect on those in need for the long run?

The sex-typing of volunteering as feminine--and the disproportionate number of women in director of volunteer positions--needs to be acknowledged and addressed. This is a complex issue and manifests itself in numerous ways.

Susan responds to colleague Sarah Elliston's observation that, "...volunteers are like the third branch of the organization and should be considered as such. I wonder if we are doing a disservice to be suggesting they are like paid staff."

This month's Hot Topic is often discussed in whispers and in private, and rarely confronted openly: labor union resistance to volunteer involvement. It's time to examine this, even at the risk of controversy and strong feelings.

The Presidents' Summit focused on volunteering for youth development but selected noncontroversial activities. To deploy volunteer energy towards a better life for all young people, Susan proposes five additional goals for volunteering. What do you think?

The Presidential Summit for America's Future wants huge commitments of new volunteering, without talking about the cost and extra resources needed to work with volunteers -- or whether agencies even want them. Plus, we need money AND volunteers.

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